Help with first time cooking a Brisket.

Wish I could be more positive but here goes

There is a reall really good chance you screw the pooch here. Brisket is the second hardest meat to really nail (beef ribs to me are #1). But that’s part of bbq. Of course you could make something that is really delicious and it sends you down the rabbit hole of brisket cooking (but you’ll look back at this attempt and think “that sucked”)

Salt. Pepper. Deflector plate. On a ceramic cooker I go fat side down. Water pan kept filled. 250-275. Wrap after bark set. Cool to 195 or so.

Good luck and don’t be too hard on yourself. Brisket is a craft not a science.

That’s a huge brisket for any cook, let alone your first.

Get a good probe thermometer that you can monitor without lifting the lid. You have to keep the lid closed for hours on end to keep the internal temp climbing.

Fat side down for the first 6 hours then wrap for the remainder of the cook. Get pink butcher paper if you can- much better than foil. You can find it on Amazon if you have time. Sometimes academy carries a shitty version of it but it’s still better than foil.

Resist the urge to open the lid/play with your fire every hour. Patience is key. The best thing to do is put it on before bed and forget about it.

I shoot for 200-205 internal temp but once you get close to 200 you can start probing it and when it goes in like butter your are done.

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a 21 pound brisket

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Start now so it's ready for Halloween.

You should sous vide that brisket for 72 hours and then hit it with a torch for the bark

Hot n fast. 475 for 3 hours. Set it and forget it.

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Tiger Ryno

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what do you recommend for the plethora of drippings that will result from this cook?

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(beef ribs to me are #1).

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Really? I find that beef ribs are much more forgiving than brisket

I typically do ribs over brisket because brisket is so finicky (unless I’m cooking for a large party).

Thanks for the help gentlemen.

Would need to also add wood chunks/chips in a gas grill - otherwise you're right, it's no different than cooking it in an oven. Getting smoke on it and developing the bark during the first few hours is the most important thing. Once the bark is set, it's gotten all the smoke flavor it will get. You can finish it anyway you'd like - wrapping and leaving on the already hot grill (most convenient) - or moving it to an oven (or even gas grill).

If you aren't introducing wood/smoke at some point - then you may as well cook it in an oven.

There are a couple ways to generate wood smoke on a gas grill (soak wood chips in a pan, pellet tube attachments, etc) if you poke around on Google.

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Watch YouTube videos on how to trim that beast

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This is SO true, changed my backyard cooking completely. There are many videos, competition, restaurant and backyard. A few backyard videos will help you for sure.